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Kasugayama Oyakata who recently was voted in as a riji, is switching kabus. He will assume the Ikazuchi name and will be an assistant coach at the heya. And who is assuming the Kasugayama name?Makushita Hamanishiki (not even from the heya..), who has retired as of now."When I became a riji candidate, I told the deshi of my plan.Hamanishiki is a serious guy who fought it out till the age of 35.. I'm a bit sad, but the heya is part of the Kyokai, and I can't do both jobs at the same time," said the outgoing Kasugayama.

This could be the first implementation of the rule where a riji cannot head a heya, as was proposed a while ago.

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Well, with the new proposals the "30-sekitori-basho-to-become-an-oyakta-rule" doesn't apply any longer?

Hamanishiki only has 27 basho under his belt and he couldn't inherit the name either (AFAIK).

Ex-Miyagino (Kanechika) had something like 23, so maybe there are some circumstances, like adoption, inheritance or whatever. Since nobody is rasing any objections, it seems everything is within something or other.

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Well, with the new proposals the "30-sekitori-basho-to-become-an-oyakta-rule" doesn't apply any longer?

Hamanishiki only has 27 basho under his belt and he couldn't inherit the name either (AFAIK).

AFAIK the special rule refers to "inheriting" a heya, not a kabu. And I don't think it's meant to require familial relationships - it's more about allowing a stable master to designate a successor even if that rikishi falls a bit short of the standard qualification criteria. (A cross-heya move like Hamanishiki's is pushing it a bit, though, admittedly.)

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AFAIK the special rule refers to "inheriting" a heya, not a kabu. And I don't think it's meant to require familial relationships - it's more about allowing a stable master to designate a successor even if that rikishi falls a bit short of the standard qualification criteria. (A cross-heya move like Hamanishiki's is pushing it a bit, though, admittedly.)

Which begs the question, why not heyatsuki Takashima? He's 55, so it's not his age..

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Wasn't Hamanishiki a participant in the talks about taking over the old Isegahama-beya, at one point?

While I'm sad to see him leave the dohyo (and we can strike another name from the Then & Now poll too), I never imagined he would stick around in ozumo after retiring, simply because he didn't meet the criteria. So I'm delighted he's staying, and he finally found a heya to run too!

As for why it's not Takashima taking over... well, he's only just closed one heya down. Maybe he wants a little less responsibility.

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Of course I was hoping they'd go ahead and separate the coaching and managing sides ever since it was first proposed, but I can't say I expected a 46-year-old first-time riji to become an example of that.

I did sometimes wonder if Hamanishiki had been offered some type of long-term plan that had made him stay active for so long - can't imagine it was this, of course, given the connection to ex-Kasugayama's riji candidacy, which probably wasn't in the works for more than maybe the last year. That said, when Hamanishiki had that surprise return to juryo last year, there seemed to be a massive amount of positive comments about him in the press. Perhaps he's one of those guys (like ex-Dairyu and ex-Kobo) who is seen as a "good hand" behind the scenes, the type who simply needs to be kept available to the Kyokai and who thus gets some strings pulled for him that less-useful members do not.

And I guess we also have our answer as to why ex-Yotsukasa didn't make an emergency beeline for the Ikazuchi(Edit: Err, Katsunoura at the time, of course) share a month ago. It's a sad irony that Tagonoura's untimely death means Yotsukasa could have stayed on after all if he'd just become Ikazuchi for the last few weeks...

Edit: This move means that three stables are now in the hands of rikishi from the famed 1976er cohort. I kind of doubt anybody would have tabbed Tochiazuma, Takanotsuru and Hamanishiki as the trio, though.

Edited February 22, 2012 by Asashosakari

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Slightly off the discussion, but I'd like to confirm my understanding of banzuke making. Am I correct that Hamanishiki would still have appeared on the upcoming banzuke even if he'd retired a week or two after the last basho, because it had already been drawn up by then? (his banzuke appearance not being just a function of him retiring just before the new banzuke is released)

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Slightly off the discussion, but I'd like to confirm my understanding of banzuke making. Am I correct that Hamanishiki would still have appeared on the upcoming banzuke even if he'd retired a week or two after the last basho, because it had already been drawn up by then? (his banzuke appearance not being just a function of him retiring just before the new banzuke is released)

I'm sure I read somewhere that this changeover will be effective as of the 29th of February (which is nice, easily remembered anniversary). If I'm right, he should be on the banzuke as Hamanishiki rather than Kasugayama-oyakata, since the banzuke comes out two days before that.

As I understand it, if the change had pre-dated the release of the banzuke, they would get out the Tippex and make a blank space for his rank, because he would be listed elsewhere as Kasugayama.

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Nope, Feb 29 on the detailed overview (bottom right corner), just like the earlier press reports said.

Their handling on the standard page has always been a bit schizophrenic, with interim updates being done in a timely manner but the "last updated" date usually being changed only on banzuke release days (and sometimes changed differently on the English and Japanese versions).

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Late response, but I might as well talk about the reason for my current fight with the search function...

Wasn't Hamanishiki a participant in the talks about taking over the old Isegahama-beya, at one point?

Excellent memory! :-) The main reason I'm linking to that thread though - am I just blanking on it, or did ex-Kiyokuni's son (mentioned over there) not actually join Ozumo after all? Anybody know if he's somewhere out there on the college or industrial circuit perhaps? (Sato's kind of a tough surname to search with...)

On another note that actually has something to do with this thread - a stable being passed on from one moto-maegashira to another is kind of usual, isn't it?

Edit: Another link away from that thread I just found myself talking about "Kaio's looming retirement" - in May 2006. Funny stuff.

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The new Kasugayama-oyakata, former Maegashira Hamanishiki, held a press conference in Osaka today. He retired as a rikishi last month and took over Kasugayama-beya, allowing the former shisho to focus on his own new role as a director of the Kyokai.

Hamanishiki made his ozumo debut as a Makushita Tsukedashi back in March 1999, alongside his more heralded Nihon University teammates Kotomitsuki and Takamisakari. He spent seven tournaments in the top division, reaching a highest rank of Maegashira 11, but he was later held back by injuries, particularly a right knee problem. Hamanishiki then toiled away in Makushita and Sandanme for several years after that, but says he learned a lot about sumo and himself during that time. Now, as the head of a heya, he feels a heavy responsibility towards the young rikishi in his stable and wants to raise them to be rikishi of endurance.

While Kotomitsuki reached the high ranks and Takamisakari received the high profile, Hamanishiki just got on with it and kept going, plugging away in the lower divisions far longer than a lot of former sekitori might. I'm really happy that he's staying on as an oyakata, and I wish him lots of luck in his new role.